Improvement in mail-bags



J. BOYLE GL H. STEPHENS.

Mail-Bag.

NO.\5,205. Patent'ed1u|y6,l875.

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JOHN BOYLE AND HENRY STEPHENS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK; SAID STEPHENSASSIGNOR TO SAID BOYLE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MAIL-BAGS.

Speeication forming part of Letters Patent No. 165,205, dated July 6,1875 application led June 15,1875. 'i

To all whom it may concern Beit known that we, JOHN BOYLE and HENRYSTEPHENS, of Brooklyn, Kin gs county, New York, have invented a new andImproved Mail-Bag, of which the following is a specification: j

This invention has for its object to produce a mail-bag whose contentscannot be picked and withdrawn when the bag is closed, and which shall,moreover, be of economical construction, and possess other advantages,herelnafter more fully referred to.

Our invention consists in supplying the bag with a secondary iiap,attached to the front of the bag, carrying staples for theclosing-strap, which turns 'upward over the closing-flap; also, inperforating the upper part of the front of the bag above the .secondaryflap and the closinglap, for the passage -through of the staples in thesecondary ilap. VThe invention also consists in attaching one'end of theclos- 1ng-strap to said upwardly-closin g flap, and in combiningtherewith a staple, secured to the flap, for receiving the other end ofthe said strap, all as hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l represents a face View of ourimproved bag, show- 111g it opened. Fig. 2 is a face view of the same,showing it closed. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line cc, Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section on the line K K, Fig.2 5 and Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line of the closing-strapwhen the bag is closed.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

The letters A A1 represent the body of the bag, the same being lnade ofcanvas, leather,

or other material. B is the ordinary lap, being an extension of oneside, A1, of the bag over and beyond the mouth thereof. O is a secondary`ap or strip of canvas, leather, or other fabric, stitched or otherwisefastened along its lower edge to the face of the bag at a height whichwill enable its free upper edge to reach about to the mouth of the bag.If

the bag is flattened the flap B will extend along its back, and the flapC along its face, said Hap being of equal length. The part of the bagindicated by A2 above the secondary ap C has a series of slots oreyelets, N. The closing-flap B likewise has eyelets or slots M, which,when the flap is folded down, lie over those in the bag, andin line witha similar series in the back of the bag, as indicated at N', so that thestaples D D D, when the bag is closed, pass through the flap B, theupper part A2 of the bag and the side A1, and project out so thattheclosing-strap can be passed through them. D D are av series of staples,firmly fastened to the inner face of the secondary flap C. When the bagis to be closed the flap Bis trst folded down over the mouth of the bag,and the lip (l is then folded up over the flap B, as shown in Figs. 2and 4, and in this position the Vstaples D D extend from the lip throughslots provided in the flap O, and in the two thicknesses of the body ofthe flattened bag,

so that said staples project from the back of the bag. E is theclosingstrap. It has one end, a, fastened to one end of 'the eXtra lipG, andis, when the bag is closed, drawn around one edge of the bag, andthrough the staples D` D along the back of the bag, and then around theother edge of the bag until it reaches a staple, F, that projects fromthe flap B through a slot, b, of the lip (l.` The slot end of the strapE is placed over this staple F, to which thereupon a padlock or otherfastening device may be applied.

-It will be observed that when this bag is closed it will be practicallyimpossible to pick it, as the picking-tool would tirst have to bebrought down between the lip O and ilap B, then up between said flap andthe body of the bag, and, finally, down again into the mouth of the bag.The several bends thus necessitated `prevent thesuccessful use of apickingtool. This is a great advantage which our bag possesses overthose which are made with a simple closing-flap, whence the staples passthrough the body of4 the' bag, as there a silnple hook-shaped tool willserve to successfully pick the bag of its contents. tage is, that we usea less number of staples than are required in a bag of the ordinarycoustruction, since we obtain perfect security without bringing thestaples quite closeA together.

Another advan- In addition to this the staple F preventsthe bag fromvbeing closed other than the, proper Way, either by accident or design.

In our bag, when opened, the staples D D `vention, because thereby it isimpossible that the bag be accidentallyleft open after the strap E hasbeen applied. If the staple F were, for

y example, applied. to the lip C, the strap could be equally wellapplied, even if the flap B had not been properly folded over the mouthof the bag; but, being on the lap B, the staple F insures the properclosing of 4said flap before the lip C is turned up.

We claim as our invention- The combination of the flap B, formed by anextension of lthe side A1, and having the staples F and slots M, theupper portion of the front of the body of the bag A2, having` the slotsN, and the back, having the slots N', the ap C, having staples D D D anda, and the closing-strap E, all constructed substantially as and for thepurpose speciiied.

The foregoing description of our invention signed by us this 14th day ofJune, 187 5.

JOHN BOYLE. HENRY STEPHENS. Witnesses:

ERNEST C. WEBB, A. MORAGA.

